# Yasuda Kinen

The Yasuda Kinen (English: Yasuda Memorial, Japanese and Chinese language: 安田記念) is a Japanese International Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at the Tokyo Racecourse in Tokyo. Raced annually each June, the Yasuda Kinen is run at a distance of eight furlongs (one mile) on turf and is open to horses three years of age and up. The event was first run in 1951 as the Yasuda Sho in honor of Izaemon Yasuda, the founding chairman of the Japan Racing Association. Following the death of Mr. Yasuda, in 1958 the race name was changed to the Yasuda Kinen.
In 1984 the race was promoted to Grade 1 status and in 1993 it was granted International Grade 1 status. In 2005, the race became the final leg of the Asian Mile Challenge. In addition to the US$1 million first place purse, another US$1 million bonus is given to any horse who wins two legs of the four-race Asian Mile Challenge.
Past winners of the Yasuda Kinen include Oguri Cap and Taiki Shuttle, both Horse of the Year honorees in Japan in 1990 and 1998 respectively. As well, the race has been won by international horses such as the Godolphin 1995 winner Heart Lake, and Fairy King Prawn who in 2000 became the first Hong Kong-trained horse to ever win a Grade I race outside of Hong Kong. In 2006 another Hong Kong-owned champion, Bullish Luck, won the race and earned the Asian Mile Challenge bonus money for winning both the Yasuda Kinen and the Champions Mile in Hong Kong.

## Winners since 1984

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
| 1984 | Happy Progress | 6 | Seiki Tabara | Shoji Yamamoto | S. Fujita | 1:37.8 |
| 1985 | Nihon Pillow Winner | 5 | Hiroshi Kawachi | Masatoshi Hattori | Hyakutaro Kobayashi | 1:35.1 |
| 1986 | Gallop Dyna | 6 | Isamu Shibasaki | Susumu Yano | Shadai Race Horse | 1:35.5 |
| 1987 | Fresh Voice | 4 | Masato Shibata | Naoyuki Sakai | Kazuo Enjo | 1:35.7 |
| 1988 | Nippo Teio | 5 | Hiroyuki Gohara | Fusamatsu Okubo | Yuichi Yamaishi | 1:34.2 |
| 1989 | Bamboo Memory | 4 | Yukio Okabe | Kunihiko Take | Tatsuichi Takeda | 1:34.3 |
| 1990 | Oguri Cap | 5 | Yutaka Take | Tsutomu Setoguchi | Shunsuke Kondo | 1:32.4 |
| 1991 | Daiichi Ruby | 4 | Hiroshi Kawachi | Yuji Ito | Haruo Tsujimoto | 1:33.8 |
| 1992 | Yamanin Zephyr | 4 | Katsuharu Tanaka | Hironori Kurita | Hajime Doi | 1:33.8 |
| 1993 | Yamanin Zephyr | 5 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Hironori Kurita | Hajime Doi | 1:33.5 |
| 1994 | North Flight | 4 | Koichi Tsunoda | Keiji Kato | Taihoku Bokujo | 1:33.2 |
| 1995 | Heart Lake | 4 | Yutaka Take | Saeed bin Suroor (UAE) | Godolphin | 1:33.2 |
| 1996 | Trot Thunder | 7 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Katsutoshi Aikawa | Teruo Fujimoto | 1:33.1 |
| 1997 | Taiki Blizzard | 6 | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Taiki Farm Co. | 1:33.8 |
| 1998 | Taiki Shuttle | 4 | Yukio Okabe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Taiki Farm Co. | 1:37.5 |
| 1999 | Air Jihad | 4 | Masayoshi Ebina | Masanori Ito | Lucky Field Co. | 1:33.3 |
| 2000 | Fairy King Prawn | 5 | Robbie Fradd | Ivan W. Allan (Hong Kong) | Philip Lau Sak Hong | 1:33.9 |
| 2001 | Black Hawk | 7 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Sakae Kunieda | Makoto Kaneko | 1:33.0 |
| 2002 | Admire Cozzene | 6 | Hiroki Goto | Mitsuru Hashida | Riichi Kondo | 1:33.3 |
| 2003 | Agnes Digital | 6 | Hirofumi Shii | Toshiaki Shirai | Takao Watanabe | 1:32.1 |
| 2004 | Tsurumaru Boy | 6 | Katsumi Ando | Kojiro Hashiguchi | Takao Tsuruta | 1:32.6 |
| 2005 | Asakusa Den'en | 6 | Shinji Fujita | Michifumi Kono | Genichiro Tahara | 1:32.3 |
| 2006 | Bullish Luck | 7 | Brett Prebble | Tony Cruz (Hong Kong) | Wong Wing Keung | 1:32.6 |
| 2007 | Daiwa Major | 6 | Katsumi Ando | Hiroyuki Uehara | Keizo Oshiro | 1:32.3 |
| 2008 | Vodka | 4 | Yasunari Iwata | Katsuhiko Sumii | Yuzo Tanimizu | 1:32.7 |
| 2009 | Vodka | 5 | Yutaka Take | Katsuhiko Sumii | Yuzo Tanimizu | 1:33.5 |
| 2010 | Showa Modern | 6 | Hiroki Goto | Hiroaki Sugiura | Keiichi Yamagishi | 1:31.7 |
| 2011 | Real Impact | 3 | Keita Tosaki | Noriyuki Hori | Carrot Farm | 1:32.0 |
| 2012 | Strong Return | 6 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Noriyuki Hori | Teruya Yoshida | 1:31.3 |
| 2013 | Lord Kanaloa | 5 | Yasunari Iwata | Takayuki Yasuda | Lord Horse Club | 1:31.5 |
| 2014 | Just A Way | 5 | Yoshitomi Shibata | Naosuke Sugai | Akatsuki Yamatoya | 1:36.8 |
| 2015 | Maurice | 4 | Yuga Kawada | Noriyuki Hori | Kazumi Yoshida | 1:32.0 |
| 2016 | Logotype | 6 | Hironobu Tanabe | Tsuyoshi Tanaka | Teruya Yoshida | 1:33.0 |
| 2017 | Satono Aladdin | 6 | Yuga Kawada | Yasutoshi Ikee | Hajime Satomi | 1:31.5 |
| 2018 | Mozu Ascot | 4 | Christophe Lemaire | Yoshito Yahagi | Capital System | 1:31.3 |
| 2019 | Indy Champ | 4 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Hidetaka Otonashi | Silk Racing | 1:30.9 |
| 2020 | Gran Alegria | 4 | Kenichi Ikezoe | Kazuo Fujisawa | Sunday Racing | 1:31.6 |
| 2021 | Danon Kingly | 5 | Yuga Kawada | Kiyoshi Hagiwara | Danox Co Ltd | 1:31.7 |
| 2022 | Songline | 4 | Kenichi Ikezoe | Toru Hayashi | Sunday Racing | 1:32.3 |
| 2023 | Songline | 5 | Keita Tosaki | Toru Hayashi | Sunday Racing | 1:31.4 |
| 2024 | Romantic Warrior | 6 | James McDonald | Danny Shum Chap-shing (Hong Kong) | Peter Lau Pak Fai | 1:32.3 |

## Earlier winners

* 1951 - Issei
* 1952 - Swee Sue
* 1953 - Swee Sue
* 1954 - Fuso
* 1955 - Kuri Chikara
* 1956 - Yoshifusa
* 1957 - Hekiraku
* 1958 - Rhapsody
* 1959 - Hishi Masaru
* 1960 - Onward Bell
* 1961 - Homareboshi
* 1962 - Tokon
* 1963 - Yamano O
* 1964 - Shimofusa Homare
* 1965 - Panasonic
* 1966 - Hishi Masahide
* 1967 - Buchan
* 1968 - Shesquay
* 1969 - Hard Way
* 1970 - Mejiro Asama
* 1971 - Harbor Game
* 1972 - Rafale
* 1973 - Haku Hosho
* 1974 - Kyoei Green
* 1975 - Sakura Iwai
* 1976 - Nishiki Ace
* 1977 - Squash Tholon
* 1978 - Nippo King
* 1979 - Royal Shinzan
* 1980 - Blue Hallez
* 1981 - Takeden
* 1982 - Sweet Native
* 1983 - Kiyo Hidaka